Fortunate Misfortunes
by worrywart
Summary: Beware the freckled red head bearing a dusty bottle of wine. My entry in the 2018 SSHG prompfest on LiveJournal. SSHG, HPDM, LLNL, RWLB.


This is the extended, original version of my prompt submission for the 2018 LiveJournal SSHG promptfest. I had to cut approximately 4,000 words to fit the submission guidelines. The prompter was Orlando_Switch. I was so thrilled she adored the submission on LJ, but I hope she'll like this extended version, too! Her prompt was: Hermione and Snape and some other war veterans are literally thrown out the wizarding world (portkey? blasting curse? just waking up elsewhere?) and not able to enter it again. What is happening?

* * *

 **SSHG SSHG**

We've all heard the phrases. You know the ones that are usually uttered by one of our dunderheaded mates, right before we have to call upon the assistance of medical personnel? Phrases such as:

Look, Ma…no hands!

Here, hold my pint!

I promise I'll pull out!

Look at this dusty old bottle of wine I found; let's have a drink!

Eight witches and wizard were rudely woken from sound sleeps by the screeching residents of number 11 Grimmauld Place to 'get the bloody hell out of our garden, you bunch of cretins, or we'll call the police!'

Severus, who woke in battle stance with his wand out, quickly realised it was the Muggles next door and slipped it away. He knew a bad situation when he met one, and he quickly hauled the residents of number 12 Grimmauld out of what they thought was the garden of said residence and into the park across the street, grumbling at Ron Weasley along the way.

As they trooped across the road, Ron whined, "Why are you grumbling at me?"

"Because the last thing I remember is you with a stupid grin on your face, prancing around the sitting room yelling, 'I found wine, I found wine'," growled Severus. "Is everyone all right?"

"I've got a blinding headache, and I only had half a glass wine. I don't suppose you've got any Sober-Up potion?" asked Hermione.

"Where have all the Nargles gone?" asked a horrified Luna.

"I don't feel so well," groaned Neville, who promptly vomited into a nearby rubbish bin.

"Where's my house?" Harry gasped.

That brought the attention of all eight witches and wizards to look at the spot where number 12 should be. Because they were magical and all had been given the address at one time or another, they should have been able to see it between 11 and 13. Gasps and murmurs of wonder ran through the small group.

"Uncle, what's happening?" asked Draco, "Why can't we see our house?"

"I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is that I'm going to kill Weasley and pickle his bits for potions!" roared Severus. "What did you do!?"

"Nothing! I did nothing!" stammered Ron. He turned to his wife, Lavender. "I did nothing, honestly, Lav."

"I believe you, dearest. But things are a bit tense at the moment and people react…well," Lavender finished with a shrug.

"Severus, please don't shout. My head is killing me," said Hermione.

"I'm sorry, love." He took his wife into his arms. "But as you can imagine, I'm a bit upset."

Harry asked again, "Where's my house?"

"Severus, why _can't_ we see it?" asked Hermione.  
 **  
**"I don't know. Look, let's have a seat on those benches and see what we can remember of last night. Perhaps we can come to some sort of conclusion."

"Do you have any Sober-Ups?" Hermione asked again.

"No; they were in my bag in the house."

"Does anyone have any Muggle money on them? I don't know about you," said Draco, "but I could use a coffee."

"No, mate, not me," said Neville. "I could really use a cuppa as well."

Hermione laughed in triumph after fishing something out of her pocket. "Ha! My bank card; I slipped it into my pocket after I paid for the take-away. Come on, isn't there a café on the next road over?"

Harry answered, "Yes, and it's got a great little breakfast menu. Draco and I eat there occasionally."

"We'll head for there then," said Severus. "By the way, do you all still have your wands?"

The sound of hands patting pockets was heard followed by several groans. In the end, only Severus, Draco, and Hermione had their wands. They rest had left them in their bedrooms, considering that the whole reason they were in Grimmauld at all was to spend the night having drinks and games, something the couples did with regularity.  
 **  
**"Okay," said Severus. "Until we know what's going on, keep close to me, Hermione and Draco. We don't know if we're dealing with rogue Death Eaters or something else."

The group trudged down the street, following Harry and Draco to the café Harry had mentioned. They found a quiet table at the back, for which Severus was grateful. Not knowing what had happened had put his senses into a state of hyperawareness. He sat with his back to the wall so that he could see the entire room and entrance. A server scurried over and took their orders for drinks, handing each a menu. When she returned, they placed their food orders.  
 **  
**Draco, watching her walk away, asked Severus, "Do you have any idea what happened?"

"No."

"We should go to the Ministry," Ron said, "They'll figure this out."

"Mr. Weasley," began Severus, "we will go nowhere until we know what is going on. How can we be prepared to protect ourselves in any way without a plan?"

Draco snorted, "Gryffindors…act first, think last."

Ron began to splutter a response but was interrupted by the waitress bearing a tray Hermione's bowl of fruit and Lavender's half of a grapefruit. Stating she'd be back with the rest in a tic, Hermione asked Severus, "Luv, what's the plan? I assume you already have an idea of how to figure this out?"  
 **  
**Severus took a sip of tea before answering, "I want us each to tell what they remember. Start from when you left your house. In fact, start from before then; did anyone else, other than the usual friends, know where you were going last night? Did any of you stop at a shop for anything for the evening and mention your plans? How did you all arrive? Did you all Apparate?"  
 **  
**Neville said, "I see what you mean. Any clue, no matter how small, could be important."

"Exactly," said Severus. His further comment was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of their breakfast order. Once the server had left, he continued, "Even at home…what did you all do before we began? Harry, did you receive any orders of food or drink? Did any of you receive unsolicited owl post? That sort of thing. Let's start with Neville."  
 **  
**Neville swallowed a bite of his bacon butty and began to recall what he had done prior to the night in question. "As usual, Luna and I took the baby to Gran's so she could watch her. The week or so prior, I did much the same as usual…teach, grade, patrol. Luna wanted to stop by her father's on the way over. She had to drop off some notes on a story she was writing for the Quibbler. Once we did that, we Apparated to number 12. We brought the usual stuff for the weekend; nothing new or recently purchased."  
 **  
**"That right," said Luna. "Daddy knows we do this every other Friday night, so he simply took my notes, gave me a kiss, and said he might pop in on Gran to see the baby."

Severus nodded as she finished. "So nothing out of the ordinary?"

Neville took a drink of his tea as he thought about the question. "No. Nothing," he answered. "But, Severus, a lot of people know we all get together every other Friday night."

Severus nodded. "Yes, that's true. That's why it's important to recall any detail that may be important regardless."

Lavender spoke next. "I did buy a new outfit for tonight." She blushed before continuing. "I'm finally at my pre baby weight!" The other women smiled in camaraderie and she continued.

"I went to a shop in London. I like the anonymity of shopping in the Muggle world and do so quite often. I chit chatted with the girl in the fitting room…why I was buying the dress, the weather being nice, just the little things you'd speak about while dressing in a fitting room to make it less awkward. I just mentioned that I was getting together with friends for a night of games and drinks. Nothing about how often we do so or anything like that. Ron told his parents of course, so they could watch Violet."

"Auror department knows Harry and I take every other Friday night off," began Ron,. "so nothing there. We are not working on any cases related to Death Eaters or war criminals; haven't done so in a good six months, wouldn't you say, Harry?"

Harry nodded in agreement.

Severus asked, "Did you Floo your parents to make arrangements for the baby or did you go to The Burrow? Was any one that was not family at The Burrow?"

"It's a standing agreement with my folks," said Ron. "I just Floo in the morning just to make sure nothing's changed. We talked for maybe… three minutes?"

Severus nodded. "Harry, Draco?"

"Well, like Ron said, we're not working on any DE cases. Draco and I went to Asda Friday morning to pick up things we needed." He nodded toward Lavender. "We also like to shop Muggle."

"We ran into your cousin, bear," Draco reminded Harry, who blushed at the term of endearment, still not used to Draco using it so familiarly with friends present.  
 **  
**"That's right," Harry said. "But there's nothing to worry about there. Duds and his wife were getting their weekly shopping."

"Yeah, but he asked you about magic, remember? He thinks his daughter may be a witch. We said we'd come over during the week to talk to her, and we'd also have you check the book, Uncle."

"Was there anyone around you?" asked Severus.

"No, there wasn't," Draco recalled.  
 **  
**"No," agreed Harry. "Anyway, we told Duds we'd ask you, and then we mentioned our get together and that Dud and Jessie should join us sometime. He's been here before, actually."

Draco remembered, "He had come once to ask about some stuff his parents had of yours. Wanted to know if you wanted it before they binned it; they're moving to Cornwall."

Hermione wiped her mouth on a paper napkin before she recounted her day. "St. Mungo's was busy as usual on a Friday. Everyone wanting to get a potion for this or that before the clinic closed for the afternoon. Paediatrics' was busy that morning, especially now that the Muggle schools have started. Wizard parents with children who were born without magic often come to St. Mungo's instead of a Muggle doctor…it's just easier, you know? I did not notice anything more than the usual over abundance snot nosed brats…"

Draco cut in by poking Hermione's gravid belly. "Be careful there, Aunty…you're about to pop with your own snot nosed brat in a few months."

Hermione laughed and slapped Draco's hand away. "Paws off, nephie poo! Anyway, I didn't notice in particular any notorious family names to worry about, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary as far as owl post is concerned, at home or in the hospital; just my usual journals. I had an appointment over lunch with my antenatal healer and all is well there. I saw no one suspicious at any time, to be quite honest."  
 **  
**"No weird post at my place," added Neville.  
 **  
**"Daddy hasn't had any either, but then it's sort of hard to tell with him, I will admit," Luna giggled.

The others chimed in about their post as well; nothing suspicious.

"I had none at Hogwarts either," said Severus. "The first week of school is always overwhelming, no matter how well we feel we are prepared. No odd posts, no odd sorting, no dark song of omen by the hat. Trelawney was sacked last year, so no doom and gloom prophesying either."

"So," Harry began to sum up, "if nothing happened outside of the house, then whatever happened, happened inside of it. We tested the take away, yes?"

Hermione nodded. "It's second nature for me, to be honest, and not just because of the baby."

"The house is secret kept, so we know who can and cannot come in. We had no other visitors this week," said Draco. "Not even my parents."

"Where are your parents, Draco? I've not seen Lucius at the Ministry in weeks," said Lavender. "Since I am the Minister's private secretary, I do see him quite a bit."

"They're in the South of France right now. Mother wanted to take a cruise on a Muggle ship to see what all the fuss was about. Ever since she saw a documentary on the telly that one time she was here, she's been fascinated, especially after we told her about ours. Oh, that was such a lovely time..."

Severus, sensing Draco was about to wax poetic about his honeymoon cruise with Harry, quickly brought the conversation back to the present. "So, we can all agree that the week preceding last night was ordinary. Nothing to arouse suspicion?"

Everyone nodded. "Good. So let's recount what happened last night. Hermione and I arrived just after seven, went to our usual room…"  
 **  
**"And forgot your silencing charm," Harry grimaced. "You two need to have your reunion sex _before_ you come here from now on."

Severus' ears went pink and Hermione hid her face in his arm. "Yes, erm, well. We helped set up the game table, Hermione ordered the take away, and I set up the drinks trolley."

Ron added, "I helped Lav set the table for dinner. Harry and Draco were fixing nibbles."

"You all were pretty well into your cups by around midnight. That's when Ron found the bottle. I hadn't been drinking at all until that point, but decided to have just a bit to help me sleep," said Hermione.  
 **  
**Severus said, "And since we can't find the house, there's no chance of finding the bottle now."

Silence fell as each witch or wizard thought about the nights' events. "If we're all done, let's head back to where number 12 should be," Hermione said. "I want to check out the back gardens for any clues, since that's where we woke up. Harry, are there any alleys to the back gardens?"

"Yes, some folks have garages at the back. You access them from an alley."

The group left the café, walking quickly back to Grimmauld Place. They stood a few moments, looking at where number 12 should be.

"I can't believe I can't see it," said Hermione.

"Nor can I," replied Severus.

Harry stood with his hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped. "Next to the Burrow, this was my first real home. And my first home with Draco."

Draco wrapped an arm around Harry. "It's still there, bear. We just have to figure out why we can't see it."

"How do we get round to the back, Harry?" Neville asked.

"Oh, this way. We go down the side road there, and turn left. 12 should be about three houses up."

They counted the houses as they walked along the alley. Severus, Neville and Ron looked along the verge for anything that might be of use in explaining their situation while Hermione, Luna, and Lavender peeked into the gardens. They all stopped at the gardens between 11 and 13.

"They all need good gardeners," Draco said snobbishly.

Harry bumped him with his shoulder and said, with a chuckle, "Shut it, you."

"They look pretty unremarkable," said Hermione.

Severus stepped up beside her. "That they do, as does the alleyway; nothing except of the usual crisp and ice lolly packets, cigarette butts and beer cans." He kissed Hermione's head, a habit of his when he was uncertain about anything. "What's Lovegood doing?"  
 **  
**Hermione turned to see Luna attempting to slip through the hedge of number 11. She padded over. "Luna, what are you doing?"

The rest of the group wandered over as she answered Hermione's question.

"There's a bottle just inside this hedge. I could see the glimmer from the glass as we were looking through the fence of number 13. I think I can just reach it." She attempted to reach it but failed by just a few inches. "Could you maybe use a localised Bombardia here, Hermione?"

"Of course," Hermione answered. She pulled her wand out and used a modified charm. When it didn't work, she said, "My magic has been occasionally wonky now that I'm pregnant; let me try again." When her charm didn't work a second and third time, she asked Severus to come and try.  
 **  
**To his consternation, his charm did not work either. When he attempted to try wandless magic, it failed as well. He indicated that Draco should attempt and he too failed. Eventually, Draco was able to reach into the hedge and pull the bottle out, handing it to Luna.

"Here you go, Luna." Once it was in her hands, she stepped away from the rest of the group. Draco turned to Severus. "What's going on, Severus? First we can't see the house and now our magic? Are we cursed?"

"I don't know.

"Ronald, isn't this the last bottle of wine we all drank?" Luna asked, as she handed it to him.

Looking at the label, although obscured with the dust, he confirmed what she had said. "Yes, it is. I remember finding this in the closet. Way in the back."

"Why were you in the closet?" asked Harry.

Ron turned red and mumbled, "Lostmywaytotheloo. " Everyone chuckled except Severus. "Anyway, we had all had quite a bit to drink, 'cept Mione, of course, and we were all happy to try it."

Severus snorted and snatched the bottle away from Ron. "How could we resist trying it with you dancing and preening all over the house?" He carefully sniffed the neck. "This smells like a good red wine, but there's something underneath it….Draco, can you tell?" Severus handed him the bottle. "Normally I'd have Hermione take a sniff, but I don't want it to hurt the child in case…"

"I understand, Uncle," said Draco, taking the bottle and taking a sniff. "You're right. There's something there beside the usual grapes. It smells a bit like pear."

Ron said, "So what? The wine could have been made with pears. Wine making is a past time for a lot of the old pureblood families. The Blacks probably had loads of it."

"Why hide it in a closet then?" asked Neville. "Gran has a cellar, as do the Malfoys and the Blacks, right Harry?"

"Yes, they do. It's not as extensive as Lucius', but there is still wine in there. I've not looked at all the bottles though. But this doesn't explain why my house is gone!"

"It looks like," began Severus, "the bottle was hidden years ago, many years ago if the dust is any indication of age, probably by Kreacher. And given how many Dark Magic items were found in the house when you and Harry cleaned it out, it would not surprise me to find something like this. I suspect the bottle has been tainted with chloral hydrate, which can smell like pears."

As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Hermione gasped. "Oh, no! I drank half a glass of it!" she put her hands over her swollen belly. "The baby! If I passed out, what has happened to the baby?" She burst into tears.

"Hermione, love, have you felt the baby move today at all?" asked Severus, being more firm that he wanted to be with her, but he knew from experience that her panicky moments must be handled firmly or she'd become hysterical.

"Erm, yes. He moves quite a bit actually throughout the day."

"But today, has he moved today?"

"Yeees," Hermione said thoughtfully, "yes he has."

Severus turned to the rest of the group. "Okay. First things first, if you will all indulge me?"

Seven heads bobbed in agreement.

"Thank you. First, let's get to St. Mungo's so that we can have Hermione and the baby checked out for any side effects. In fact, we'll all get checked out. Then, we'll have to find a base camp of sorts. Hermione, do you think your parents would allow us to stay as we make plans? It has more room than Spinner's End."

"Of course," she said, sniffing.

"What about The Burrow?" asked Ron. "You know mum will let us kip there."

"If we have no magic, we can't Apparate," said Severus. He held up a hand to forestall Ron's next question. "I am not able to use wandless magic, so no, I cannot Apparate using wandless magic either."

"Severus," asked Luna, "what is choral hydrate?"  
 **  
**"Technically it's a poison, but from a potions standpoint, I use it as a reagent. Properly used, it can be a sedative. It synthesizes quickly so it can be easily used, which means it can be _improperly_ used as a recreational drug or even knock out drops which, I believe, was the intended use here. The Black family history is known for enemies coming to parties and ending up missing. The reaction, and a mostly likely the curse, was probably held in stasis until the cork was removed." Severus turned to Ron. "Mr. Weasley, I believe you may unwittingly be the catalyst of what happened to us all, and not completely at fault here."

"I am not!" Ron shouted.

"Ron," Hermione said quietly, "he did say you might not be at fault. But can we argue about this later? I need to get to St. Mungo's. Is there a tube station nearby?"

"Yes, two blocks over," said Harry.

Severus looked around and found an empty plastic sac and put the bottle in it. Taking Hermione's hand and indicating that Harry and Draco should led the way, the group made for the tube station. Thanks to Hermione's credit card, they soon had tickets and were on their way to St. Mungo's.

Luna, Neville, and Lavender had never been on the London Metro before, but Hermione explained it would feel very similar to riding the Hogwarts express, but underground. This helped them relax and enjoy the ride, observing how people got on and off at various stations.

The group made it to Purge and Dowes, Ltd., the building that acted as a façade to St. Mungo's, with no trouble. However, when Severus went to the mannequin in the window and whispered who he was and what he wanted, nothing happened. He tried a second time with no response and then he had the rest of the try it.

"What should we do, Severus?" asked Neville.

"The Ministry," he said. "It's closer than the Leaky. We'll have to take the tube again."

Thirty minutes later, the group stood in front of an old public call box. When Severus and Hermione entered, he picked up the phone and dialled the number. Nothing happened. No voice, no badges.

"Severus," Harry said frantically, having just returned from the public toilet, "the loo…it won't let us in that way either!"

"Let's go to the Leaky then. We can have Tom contact Minerva and Kinglsey for us."

The octet grabbed a bus and headed to Charing Cross Road. Once off at the stop, they headed up the road to where they knew the Leaky Cauldron should be, between the book store and the old record shop. They were beginning to attract the attention of Muggles passing by as they kept walking back and forth, gesticulating and arguing that it should be 'right here!'.  
 **  
**Severus finally lost his temper. "Look, just shut it all of you! I don't know what's going on. We don't have magic, we can't see magical things, but we can't wander around like fools, looking for anyone magical. Let's head to Hermione's parents. They have an owl and we could send it to Minerva. She can come to the house, and we'll go from there. But first thing's first, we must get Hermione seen to. Her parents can help with that."

"The children!" exclaimed Neville. "How will we get word to Gran and Ron's folks about the kids?"

"Goodness!" cried Hermione. "I forgot about your children. I'm so sorry; I've been selfishly thinking of my own before yours!"

Neville put his arm around Hermione. "It's okay, 'Mione. We understand; you're upset about your baby, and I think if the situation were reversed, we would have forgotten as well. But, we do need to get a message to everyone."  
 **  
**"We'll send letters to Mrs. Longbottom and Arthur and Molly when I send one to Minerva. Now, shall we set off?" Severus asked.

Everyone agreed to Severus' plan, and soon they were on the tube heading for Chelsea.

 **SSHG SSHG**

Helen Granger returned to the kitchen to see Hermione, Severus and their friends finishing their tea.

"Hermione, your father is on the phone with Eleanor Jackson, a friend of his from school who is an obstetrician. He's seeing about getting you to her office. In the meantime, we'll fix something to eat. You'll feel a little more like yourself once you've had a bite."

Everyone sat around the kitchen table, fixing themselves sandwiches from the meats and cheese Helen had laid out for them when David, Hermione's father, came in.

"Ellie will see you in an hour, Hermione. I told her you were visiting from your job in Scotland when you knocked over a bottle of something in the potting shed and needed to be examined to ensure the baby's safety. She said she'll do some blood work and a scan. She has a friend at the lab who'll do the blood work personally so we get the results back quickly." David bit his lip. "I suppose you'll have to Obliviate her afterward?"

Severus answered, "We can't, as we've explained."

"Oh, stupid of me, of course you can't," said David with regret.

"It's all right, David. I'll think of a cover story on the way to the office. Do you still have the owl Hermione gave you?"

David nodded. "Ariel has a nice little nest in the potting shed. I'll just run and get her. He snatched up a bit of meat and cheese, rolled it up and bustled away. Helen and Hermione went to get cleaned up while Severus and the others talked about the next step in their plan.

Later that evening, Hermione and Severus were in Hermione's old bedroom, discussing what had happened. The others were spread throughout the house, sleeping on various bits of furniture that had made up as beds.

"I'm so thankful the baby is all right," Severus said, running his hand along Hermione's belly.

"He was acting up quite a bit during the exam," giggled Hermione. "And his heartbeat was excellent."

"The lab results showed only a trace amount of the chloral hydrate; nothing to harm the baby, as evidenced by his bouncing about during the exam. I'm glad the lab technician believed our story of cleaning out the potting shed and a bottle falling open."

Hermione snuggled closer. "Hmmm. Oh, Severus, what are we doing to do? The eight of us can't stay here for long. Has the owl returned?"

"Not yet, and I agree, we all can't stay here."

"What about Spinner's End? We haven't sold it yet, perhaps we could go there?"

"I'd rather you stayed here with your parents, to be honest. Spinner's End is not modernised; you can feel the wind blowing through, and the loo is not up to date at all."

"I can't see Draco wanting to go there, to be honest. Luna would find it an adventure; perhaps she and Neville could go there? But, Severus, if Neville's gran comes to get them can't she take them back to her house? If it's Muggle built then they'll be able to see it."

"More than likely if it's Muggle built, then yes, but any of the magical enchantments means they won't see them. There's a danger they could think they're walking down a hallway and then suddenly run into what would be for them a blank wall and find themselves in the back garden, must like we did."

"I hadn't thought about that," said Hermione sleepily.

"We've had a long day, love. We'll talk in the morning when we're all a little more rested." Severus pulled Hermione to nestle her back into his front. He enjoyed sleeping in this position as it allowed him to sleep with his hand over her belly. If he was lucky, he would feel his son move. It wasn't long before the exhaustion of the day pulled Severus into a deep sleep.

In David's study, Harry and Draco were also quietly and sleepily chatting as they attempted to relax on the pull out couch.

"What do you think has happened?" asked Harry.

"Severus thinks, and I agree, that there was some sort of curse tied to the cork of that wine bottle. I could kill Weaslebee!"

"Draco," Harry chided. "It wasn't really his fault now was it? He couldn't have known. Although, by now you'd think he'd have learnt to suspect anything old and dusty he's found at Grimmauld."

Draco snorted, "Too right."

"I wonder why the owl hasn't returned from Minerva yet." He could feel Draco shrug in answer. "I wonder how we'll contact the Ministry if it doesn't come back."

"Ariel had quite a few letters to deliver. She'll be back at dawn, I expect. And if I know Severus, he'll find a way to contact the Ministry. I'm sure we can manage to contact my parents. Aren't there Muggle ways to do that?"  
 **  
**"Well, if they had a mobile, it'd be easier, but since they are on a Muggle vessel, we could send a telegram or something. I'll ask in the morning."

"Couldn't Hermione's parents drive us to Wiltshire? We know where the Manor is."

"Yes, but since the Manor is magical, so we wouldn't be able to see it. Now," Harry said, turning to cuddle closer to Draco, "it's been an exhausting day. Let's get some sleep, love."

Draco kissed Harry, and he too fell asleep.

Ron and Lavender were in the living room on a couple of camp beds that the Granger's had in the attic, quietly talking about their situation.

"I can't believe everyone is blaming me," said Ron.

"Oh, Ron," sighed Lavender, "Only Professor Snape is blaming you, and he's really not blaming you either. You just happened to find the bottle and you know how he can be…"

"I know," Ron answered morosely. "What are we doing to do? We can't go to The Burrow if we can't see it. Doesn't Snape have a Muggle home? Maybe we could stay there? I love Hermione's parents and all, but eight extra people in the house will be hard."  
 **  
**"We could ask him in the morning, I suppose. I agree; we need to go somewhere else. I wouldn't want to stress the Grangers too much. It'd be different if we all had our magic."

"True. I really am sorry to have caused any trouble, Lav."

"I know, Wonnie, I know. I love you, you know that?"

Ron laughed with relief and happiness. "I do know, Lav. I love you, too." He leant over and kissed his wife. "Things will look better tomorrow, yeah?"

"Of course they will."

Neville and Luna were in Helen's sewing room, lying on a pallet of blankets. "Do you think we'll have heard anything in the morning?" asked Neville.  
 **  
**Luna tucked the covers around her shoulders a bit more. "I'm sure. I just wish I could see the Nargles. They are a comfort to me, and they always give me signs about what's to come."

Neville smiled. His Luna often talked as though she were away with the fairies, but more often than not she was so in tune with nature and magic that he was as surprised as the rest of them to find she had no magic ability at the moment, either. "What do the stars tell you, love?"

"That all will be well," she said honestly. "But it will take some time, and the stars also tell me that a few of us will have a decision to make in the end."

Neville considered her response. "I trust you, love. I hope the owl got the message to Gran."

"I'm sure, but even if it didn't, Gran may just assume we had a bit too much to drink and will pick up Frankie later in the morning; it's happened before," she giggled. "And besides, Gran just loves her and would keep her as much as we'd let her, you know that."

Neville readjusted his position and answered, "I do know that. Let's go to sleep now. Love you."

"Love you, too."

 **SSHG SSHG**  
 **  
**As Hermione and her mother did the washing up after breakfast, Severus and the others wandered into the garden to see what help they could be of there. David was rather proud of his vegetable and herb beds. Helen had told the group that if she had not put her foot down, it would take up the entirety of the garden.

Severus was using a hoe while the others desultorily pulled at weeds, all them rather silent despite the situation.  
 **  
**The cry of an owl pulled their attention away from their tasks, and all hurried to the patio where Ariel had landed. Severus reached her first and pulled two letters from her leg, handing one to Neville after looking at the address. The other he took for himself. Hermione and her mother had just stepped out of the kitchen.

"I heard Ariel," said Hermione, handing the bird a treat she had thoughtfully grabbed on her way outdoors. After a little preening, the owl took her treat and headed for her nest. "What does your letter say, Severus?"

Severus didn't answer right away as he scanned the letter. "It's from Minerva," he said finally. "She has contacted Kingsley, and they and Auror Proudfoot will be here around tea time. She says we are to make sure we have the bottle and the cork."  
 **  
**"The cork was in the house, remember?" said Ron.

"Shite," replied Severus with a sigh. "They'll have to do the best they can then with what they've got."

"No they won't," interjected Draco excitedly. "McGonagall and Shacklebolt are secret keepers…they'll be able to get into the house and find it for us."

"And retrieve our bags," said Lavender. "I need to change my clothes and have a shower."

"What does your letter say, Nev?" asked Hermione.

Neville looked up. "Gran will take care of Frankie, of course, and has contacted Molly and Arthur via Floo to explain the situation. They'll take care of Violet."

Lavender sniffed a bit. "I want to see Violet, though."

Hermione said, "We'll send Ariel out again with a message as soon as she's rested. Molly and Arthur can bring Violet here. We'll contact Mrs. Longbottom with the address, and she can Apparate here with Frankie, too."

"Thank you, Hermione," said Luna. "I miss my little girl."

"Why don't we have some tea here in the garden?" Harry suggested. "Now that we've had a night to sleep on it, we can try to discuss what happened again. I think we should talk about how we felt once we began to drink the wine. Maybe there's a clue we missed yesterday?"

Everyone agreed and Hermione went to fetch some tea. When she returned, they all settled around the table and rehashed what happened.

"I remember," began Neville, "feeling very relaxed…not really aware of where I was. I felt swimmy headed, as though I was high. I also remember feeling as though I could do anything."

"How do you know what being high feels like?" asked Draco.

"I'm not plant boy for nothing, Draco," Neville hinted.

"Oh, really?" drawled Draco. "Care to share, Plantboy?"

"Be that as it may be," growled Severus, hoping to bring the discussion back around, "did you feel like you were compelled?" asked Severus.

"Not so much compelled like with the Imperious, but that any suggestion would have been fine with me."

Draco said, "Yes, I felt that way, too. Like I hadn't a care in the world and the idea of letting someone else do the thinking was really great."

Luna, Lavender, and Harry all shook their heads, each murmuring in agreement with what Neville and Draco has described. Only Hermione felt differently.

"I felt relaxed, but not to the extent you all did. Perhaps because I only had a few sips of the wine?"

"You know," mused Harry, "for a regular sized bottle, there seemed to be an awful lot of wine in it. I mean, I remember drinking at least two glasses of it and there were seven of us drinking it."

"So," Severus said, "not only was the bottle cursed, it was laced with an Everfill charm as well."

"But what sort of curse?" asked Hermione.

"Probably a modified compulsion charm. Since we didn't feel the need to immediately do something, I suspect the charm was to make whoever drank the wine susceptible to suggestion."

"Snape," began Ron, "do you think that someone else got into the house once we had drunk the wine? I don't remember much after my second glass. Could someone have entered and cast a curse on us to remove our magic?"

Severus nodded. "I think you have a point, Ronald; someone could have come into the house or the curse was tied to the cork. Remember what I said earlier about the Blacks and party guests coming up missing?"

"We'll have to get Kingsley or Proudfoot to cast for magical signatures once we get to Grimmauld," said Harry. "That'll at least be a starting point."

"Good idea," agreed Severus. "Now, let's go over things one more time to be sure we've missed nothing before the others arrive."

 **SSHG SSHG**  
 **  
**The visit from Minerva, Kingsley, and Proudfoot did nothing to alleviate the worries and fears of the group no longer able to see or perform magic. They had discovered an unknown magical signature had been in the house; unknown because the frequency of the signature had been tampered with. Proudfoot explained that the DOM had been experimenting with such magic over the last couple of years. This led to the possibility of an infiltrator within the DOM, someone who had connections to the group as well. But who could it be? They also confirmed that the curse and the chloral hydrate had been linked to the cork, which had been found once Minerva entered the house.  
 **  
**The conclusion was that the bottle Ron found was not as old as they thought. At some point, someone entered the house and planted the bottle in the closet. When everyone was passed out, they entered the house and removed their magic. Whether that was by curse or jinx or ritual magic was unknown at this point.

Hermione pointed out that whoever cursed the bottle had to have known when the couples met; therefore, they had to have been given the address of the house at some point. And, was that person so eager for the curse to be placed that they were willing to wait however long it took for their target to find the bottle? Auror Proudfoot seemed to agree, and this furthered the idea that this person was from within the Ministry.

It was also discovered during their visit that although any one of the group who lost their magic could go into the house accompanied by someone with magic, once they were left on their own however, they suddenly found themselves in the back garden of one of the other homes. They absolutely had to be in the presence, at all times, by a magical person. Although this meant that Neville and Luna, Ron and Lavender, and Harry and Draco could return to their parents' homes, it also meant that they had to be in the presence of a magical person in order to use the homes where magical enlargement or enhancements had been made. The awkwardness of this dilemma was not lost on any one of them.

Once everyone was seated in the kitchen of Grimmauld, Severus theorised that this was how the Blacks may have gotten rid of their enemies. They simply got lost among the Muggle world in an attempt to find a magical person. Hermione didn't think that it was so bad; they could have learnt to adapt. Severus pointed out that when you've lived a magical life, one that did not teach any survival skills in the Muggle world, adaptation would be problematic if not deadly.

Luna asked, "If we only need to be in the presence of a magical person in order to be in a magical place, doesn't that mean that to some extent, we've not completely lost our magic? Our cores are intact? They must be for them to sense the magic of another person and if that's the case, we should be able to sense magical places."

Severus gave consideration to what Luna had said. "To a degree, you are correct, Mrs. Longbottom. However, if your supposition is correct, something is blocking our cores. I fear, however, that it is tied to the curse."

"I'll be sure to have our agents in the DOM trace the curse for that particular variant," said Proudfoot, making a note in his book.

"So what do we do?" asked Neville.

"We could easily assign each of you an auror to accompany you at all times," suggested Kingsley. "That would allow you to at least remain in the magical world."

"An easy solution if intrusive, to be sure," said Severus.

"I agree," said Hermione. "We don't know how long it will take to find the infiltrator and the counter course. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going to have a wee with an auror present; I don't care if it is a female. I'm pregnant…do you realize how much time I spend in the bathroom?"

"I'm with Hermione," said Lavender. "I don't want an auror watching me dress or worse, sleeping in the same room with me and Ron."

"What if we assign you Aurors for during the day, and then you sleep somewhere Muggle at night?" Proudfoot asked.

Severus grunted. "Doable, but not practical. I suggest we do this the other way round."

"How so?" asked Minerva.

"Assign an auror to us for our protection and defence. However, we will live in the Muggle world temporarily. I'm sure you could assign us aurors who are half-blood or Muggle born."

Luna spoke up. "That sounds fun, Severus! But, I've never lived like a Muggle."

"You know some things, Luna," said Draco. "You occasionally shop in the Muggle world. So does Lavender for that matter. And Harry and I, but then, I've got Harry. You can already manage Muggle money, and that's probably one of the most important things."  
 **  
**Everyone around the table murmured in agreement.

Minerva said, "I think Severus has the best plan. How should we handle the arrangements then?"

"I think you should find flats for us in the same building. That way, we can help each other out, but still have some privacy," said Severus.

Kingsley agreed. "Proudfoot…you handle the flats. Assign each couple an auror who is half-blood or Muggleborn. Minerva, you and I will Apparate everyone back to the Granger's; your parents will let you stay at least a few more days until everything is arranged?" he asked Hermione.

"Of course," answered Hermione.

"Very good. In the meantime, I need to contact Hestia Jones and see what the hell is going on in the DOM."

 **SSHG SSHG**

In less than a week, everyone was settled on one story of a block of flats near Chelsea. They were fortunate enough to be able to stay in the same area as Hermione's parents, who would help the couples as much as they could. Lavender and Luna were thrilled to have their daughters back in their arms, and the couples settled down into new routines.

The new routines did not come without their setbacks, many of them very funny, at least to Harry, Severus and Hermione.

Hermione and Severus laughed as they dined with her parents one evening, recalling Ron and Neville's attempts at buying nappies for Violet and Frankie. Luna and Lavender were busy doing housework—with guidance from Hermione—when Lavender sent Ron to the store.

Neville had volunteered to go with Ron, and the pair made their way to Sainsbury's, which was on the local bus route. Ron had learned the Muggle transportation system very quickly and was able to get him and Neville there without incident. Hermione had explained to the boys what to look for; large boxes or bundles in plastic, with pictures of babies on them. What she had failed to explain was the sizing system.

The odd pair stood in front of the display, confused by the plethora of options in front of them.

"Lav usually uses cloth diapers, mate," said Ron. "Reckon these are them?"

"Dunno," said Neville. "Luna does all of this." He moved along the aisle, looking at the other options. "What's it mean 'Up to seven K'? What's a 'K'?"

"Dunno," said Ron. "Look this one says 'cruiser'. What do you suppose that means?"

Neville shrugged. "No idea. This one says 'all night protection with special fibres to wick away wetness'. Cor…it's enough to make your head spin!"

Ron stood with his hands in his pockets and bounced off and onto the balls of his feet. "Look there, Nev," he said, pointing to a box with a brightly smiling cherubic toddler, "that looks to be the size of Frankie. Why don't you get those? These ones here," he pointed to a box in front of him, "look like they'd fit Violet."

"I don't know mate," Neville said cautiously. "Frankie isn't cruising; she's only five months old and just sort of kicks her feet and moves forward an inch or two. Your Violet is ten months…is that cruising age?"

"She does walk about the furniture. You're right…I'll get those. Do you suppose we should pick up a couple boxes of different ones just in case? The kids are growing like weeds."

"Okay," said Neville and the pair started to grab boxes and tossing them into a trolley.

Pleased with themselves for having accomplished what they thought was a difficult task successfully, the pair made their way to the queues. The cashier gave them a few high wide-eyed looks, but they managed to give the correct pound notes and were soon back at the house.

With pride at having accomplished their mission, the boys set their packages on the kitchen table amid the gasps of the girls.

"Ron," said Hermione, "what on earth were you thinking?"

"We bought nappies!" he replied.

"Yes, but twelve boxes? Why did you get so many? How on earth did you carry all of them? None of these seem to be the right size," said Lavender. "At least I think so…I use cloth."

Neville said, "The babies on the packages looked about the age of the girls, so we thought that's how you buy them."

Hermione giggled. "Well, I'll give you points for reasoning, but no, Neville, you don't buy them by the picture; you by them by either the age or weight of the baby."

Ron and Neville's shoulders slumped and both muttered apologies.

"Tell you what," began Hermione. "I'll buy some these from you for my baby; I'm sure I'll use them all eventually. Us girls will go out and get what we need and return those we don't need. In the meantime, use this one," Hermione selected a package of nappies in the approximate size for each baby, "for Violet and this one for Frankie until we return. I need a few things anyway, so we'll just take care of it."

 **SSHG SSHG**

The group of now non- magical witches and wizards had hoped that the Auror office would have found a solution to their problem much more quickly, but four months had gone and they still had no news. In those months, everyone adjusted, slowly.

Neville and Lavender were finding it hardest among the group to adapt as they had both grown up in strictly magical pureblood families. Luna had as well, but she was having fun in learning all things Muggle, and the others admired her spirit. Ron had the occasional mishap, but because of his father's obsession with all things Muggles, he was aware of a few things, and this made his transition not as hard to bear for him.

However much they seemed to be adapting, the change _was_ hard and the couples began to fight more and those fights spilled over to fights among the friends. Although Severus did not 'fight' with the others, he often spent time reverting back to his former professor personality and would not speak to any of them for days, unless it was to snarl at them.

Since no one had their usual occupations, there began to be a bit too much togetherness. It was at their next meeting with Kingsley—he had begun to meet with them every two weeks to address any problems and bring them up to date on the progress of the investigation—it was suggested that those who could, should get jobs to help curtail the problem of boredom that was leading to the fights. This meant that paperwork had to be created for those who had not been brought up Muggle; only Hermione, Severus, and Harry were truly British citizens and had birth certificates, and surprisingly, Severus had a driver's licence, although it was a decade out of date. Kingsley had the Aurors create documents for the all of them—transcripts, school leaving certificates and the like, as well as a job history and references for them to use on applications.  
 **  
**Neville, naturally, applied for jobs at florists and was rather pleased to find a job quite quickly. Lavender went to the shop where she usually bought her dresses and asked if they were looking for help. The ladies there recognised and remembered her and were delighted to offer her a job as one of their sales girls had just gone back to school. Luna applied at a child care centre and was accepted, happily skipping off to play with the children every day. Ron took a while to place, but he found work with the maintenance crew at the local sports stadium.

Severus had decided to take some Muggle courses and applied to and was accepted at the local university as a returning adult. Hermione, due to her pregnancy had intended to volunteer at the local library, but her son decided to make his appearance a few days into her inquiries.

Tobias David Snape was born in the early hours of fourteen September, with a shock of curly black hair on his head, a tiny nose, and murky blue eyes. He was absolutely perfect. The Granger's visited straight away, the proud grandparents never letting the boy out of their arms, except when Hermione needed to feed him. Harry and Luna were chosen as godparents and the group of friends was diverted for a while at least, from their worries as they cooed and marvelled that the greasy git produced such a lovely baby—Ron earned a slap upside the head for that.

One night, as Severus and Hermione were up feeding and changing Toby's nappy, they talked quietly about the past several months. Now that everyone had jobs, they were amazed at how much better things seemed. Overall, the fighting had decreased and now that everyone had a purpose, getting together as a group was more pleasurable. Hermione and Severus were having an easier time than the others, having both been raised in the Muggle world and in fact, often didn't miss their magic. Severus did express a longing to work his potions again, but in the meantime, was enjoying his enforced vacation, his new son, and his courses at school. They also discussed the possibility of their never getting their magic back.  
 **  
**"Do you think you could live without it?" asked Hermione.

"Perhaps. I've enough other skills that would translate into the Muggle world, but I imagine we could find work that would keep us in both worlds."

"What about the others?"

Severus rolled over and adjusted the duvet while watching his wife, who was sitting up in bed, feeding their son. "Harry and Draco would do fine; Luna would as well. The others…I'm not so sure about. They seem to be enjoying the jobs they have now, but they still seem to have an 'it's only temporary' attitude. I don't think anyone of them have faced the possibility this could be for their rest of their lives."

Hermione hummed in agreement and switched Toby to her other breast. Once he was settled, she started laughing.

"What so funny?" asked Severus.

"The other day, Luna had to call me for help. She was hoovering and caught the drape in it. When I got there, the entire machine was upside down, having sucked in the drape that much!"  
 **  
**Severus snorted, "Typical Luna."

"I've noticed Lavender and Ron are fighting more and more again. He wants her to be his mother, but she can't without magic. She's still learning how to cook and clean, and I don't think he likes his job."

"I agree Ronald would have the hardest time. Draco is doing well, but that's because he has Harry."

"True," said Hermione. "I think the little guy is done; would you burp him while I go to the bathroom?"

"Of course. Come to Papa, my boy," said Severus, who had sat up and was reaching for Toby. "Let's see if you have the Snape propensity for loud burps. We know you've got the fart."

"Like father, like son," giggled Hermione.

 **SSHG SSHG**  
 **  
**Days later, Hermione took Toby to her parents' house for lunch while Severus was in class. Helen relayed a story to her that had Hermione's father in tears for he, too, had done the same thing when for Helen when they were first married in an effort to surprise her.

"It as the day you all went to the zoo. They tried, they really did try," giggled Helen, as she told the story…

The group had decided to go to the zoo, using the children as an excuse, even though all three were really too young to enjoy it. Harry was familiar with zoos, but had asked Hermione and Severus to come along, just in case. Hermione and Severus, while not eager to go as a group—they were rather tired as they learned their way as new parents—went along anyway. In actuality, Severus loved the zoo, but Hermione kept it a secret because well, big bad Potions masters must keep their reputations.

Lavender and Luna had decided to stay behind, the young mothers eagerly looking forward to a few hours of peace and quiet and a chance to have a bath uninterrupted. They had made plans to meet for lunch at Luna's flat. As the two ate, they complained back and forth about the difficulties living as Muggles presented.

One particular complaint was that the amount of laundry that piled up was overwhelming. Having had magic and house elves, they really had no idea of the amount of clothes worn by three people in each family could use in a day, let alone in a week!

"You know," said Luna, the more adventurous of the two, "Hermione always helps us with our laundry. I think we should be able to handle that, shouldn't we?"

Lavender agreed. "It does look pretty easy. All she does is put the clothes in and push a few buttons."

"Why don't we do it then?" asked Luna. "We can surprise her by showing her we can do Muggle things as easily as she can!"

Lavender, who even after years of friendship with Hermione, still had moments where she was jealous of the woman, agreed to Luna's plan, and ran to her flat to retrieve her family's laundry.

The washer and dryer were located in the kitchen. Luna had grabbed the washing liquid and set it on the counter, not far from the bottle of dish washing liquid.

The pair worked quickly, remembering Hermione's instructions about sorting the laundry into piles by colour and washing directions. They place the laundry into the machine, and Luna added the washing liquid. There seemed to no problem as the machine moved from cycle to cycle until finished. They moved the wet things into the dryer and set up the washer for the next load.

What they hadn't known was that one of Ron's trainers had been folded inamong the shirts and that Lavender had gotten the lace caught in the door when she closed the lid. The lace was thin enough to allow the door to close, allowing the washer to run. Neither girl realized that Luna had grabbed the wrong bottle of soap, unwittingly setting up what was to come.  
 **  
**So proud of how things were going, the girls 'high-fived' each other and went into the living room to watch Jeremy Kyle on the telly.

After a moment, Lavender asked, turning her head in the direction of the kitchen, "What's that thumping noise?"

"It sounds like it's coming from upstairs. Perhaps the couple that lives in the flat above is moving something," answered Luna.

Lavender was silent for a few more minutes as she listened to the noise and then it seemed to stop. "Hmmm," she said. "Anyway, it seems to have stopped." She turned back to the telly and got caught up in the programme.

A buzzing from the alarm on the dryer startled them, and they giggled as they stood and went to retrieve the dry clothes for folding.

The sight that met their eyes caused them both to cry out in dismay.

"What in Merlin's name?" gasped Lavender.  
 **  
**"If I could see them, I'd bet my bottom Galleon there'd be blimdiggers in here," Luna said in amazement. "Should we call Hermione?"

"No! The whole point of us doing this was to show her we were smart enough to use Muggle things."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

Lavender stepped back as the sea of bubbles burped its way toward them. "It's Saturday; isn't Mrs. Granger's clinic closed today?"  
 **  
**"Yes, yes it is," Luna answered, reaching a finger out to touch the foamy mess.

"I'll go call her; I'm sure she can help us."

"And when I got there," Helen was laughing, "the girls were on chairs, covered in bubbles and in near hysterics, or at least Lavender was. Luna was busy making shapes in the foam. Oh, Hermione, it was the funniest thing ever!"

"How did you get the mess cleaned up?"

"I dashed back home and got your father's shop vacuum, the one that will clean up water? We used that to get most of the mess cleaned up and then the rest we got with towels. Fortunately, not much furniture got too wet, but we did call Minerva—you know my Floo had been attached to the castle for such an emergency when you all moved into the flats?—to come and use a bit of magic to be sure all was well. I invited her over for tea afterward, and she and I laughed until we cried."

"What happened to cause the mess?" asked Hermione.

"We found one of Ron's trainers in the mess as we cleaned; the best conjecture is the trainer thumped the door to the washer open, and the foam spewed out. Luna must have grabbed the wrong bottle of washing liquid."

Hermione giggled. "Perhaps I should give the girls more credit. The accident wouldn't have happened if they didn't feel they needed to show me they were smart and capable. They are, actually, and have handled this whole situation wonderfully."  
 **  
SSHG SSHG**

Just two weeks after that conversation, Kingsley and Proudfoot had gathered the eight of them at Grimmauld Place to update them. Hermione had just finished pouring tea and Luna passing a plate of sandwiches as everyone finished gathering at the kitchen table.

"I'll get straight to the point," said Kingsley, "as I know you're eager to get back to your usual lives. We have just arrested the person who was involved."

The men and women gasped and began throwing questions at the Minister. "Simmer down, simmer down," he implored them. "I know you're all anxious to know what happened and if you can be cured." With a sip of tea, he began…

"The first place we began to look was the Department of Mysteries. We checked over employment records to see if anyone had been recently hired, and if so, what was their previous job record…that sort of thing. Then we looked for any connection to Death Eaters of either war. Once we ruled those out, we began to look at the Black family tree, since the incident happened here. We of course started with those living. Draco's parents," here Kingsley nodded to Draco, "were very helpful. Lucius and Narcissa provided us with their social diaries so we could see if any names were repeatedly noted."

"Mother and Dad saw a lot of the same people socially," interjected Draco. "Mostly pureblood and, to his regret, Father had some rather unsavoury social contacts."

"Indeed he did," agreed Kingsley. "But we assured him this was not a witch hunt for him, but for anything that may lead us to the infiltrator." **  
**  
"If you were sure it was someone from the DOM," asked Hermione, "why were you looking into the Death Eaters first?"

Severus sneered, impatient with Kingsley's rather long winded explanation. "Who else would be the most obvious person to know such a dark spell?"

Hermione blushed with realisation. "Oh, of course. I'm sorry."

"Not to worry, Hermione," said Kingsley. "And yes, Severus, we did start our investigation with Death Eaters because Death Eaters are or were known to be dark and evil. It _was_ the most obvious place. Once we'd had exhausted that source, we'd move off in other avenues."  
 **  
**"Such as?" asked Hermione.

"Once we eliminated all the possible suspects from the most recent war, we went back to the first war. We started with the original Order of the Phoenix members who weren't order members during the second, omitting those who are dead or incapacitated." He nodded toward Neville in sympathy. Neville's lips went flat, but he nodded back.

"We then traced the social circles of the known Death Eaters of that time, and we found something interesting."

"Oh?" Eight voices asked, all leaning forward.

"It seemed that an old school mate of Regulus Black's had come up missing after the first war. His name was Robert Alexander. Do you remember him at all, Severus?"

Severus leant back to think, fiddling with the handle of his tea mug as he did so. "I believe I do. Reg and I were close, and I remember a young man around our age always tagging along at Death Eater meetings and sometimes socially; Reg had apparently invited him along. I believe he was in love with Reg. If I remember correctly, he was not at Hogwarts, his parents choosing to educate him at the wizarding school in Sweden. I can't even remember how Reg met him or how he became part of the outer circle of Death Eaters, which is where Reg and I were at the time. One day, Reg and I were here alone and Robert stopped by. He witnessed a rather private fight between the two of us and when I left, he stayed, I assume, comfort Reg. Reg disappeared about two months later. I regret that he and I never patched things up."  
 **  
**"What was the fight about, Severus?" asked Hermione quietly.

"Reg admitted that he loved me as more than a friend," said Severus a bit uncomfortably. "Over time, as our friendship had developed, he had begun to take liberties that I, at first, had brushed off. On that particular day, he admitted his love; he wanted us to become lovers and had begun touch me more intimately. I told him, rather forcefully, that I did not think of him that way and did not think of any man in that way. He attempted to touch me again, so I punched him and left. On the way out, I glimpsed Robert entering the sitting room from the hall. I assume he had heard us."  
 **  
**The group made no comment when Severus stood and quickly left the room. Hermione followed with a quick 'give us a moment, please'. Once the couple was out of the room, the rest looked at each other and Kingsley with a silent conversation of wide eyed 'did you knows?' and shoulder shrugged 'nos' in answer.

The pair returned with Severus making a mumbled apology, asking Kingsley to please continue.  
 **  
**"Robert Alexander disappeared shortly after the end of the first war," Kingsley said. "We combed the Auror records for a list of Death Eaters who were not captured, and his name was among them. It was assumed that he was either killed and his body never found, or left England, probably for America as we have no extradition process with them, and he knew he'd be safe there."

Severus added, "When the Dark Lord returned, I do not recall his being part of the group. However, there were so many unmarked supporters and marked lower ranking members it could have been easy for him move unnoticed. I was part of the inner circle and in a much different role this time around. I admit I did not concern myself too much with those who were not in the inner circle."

Kingsley nodded. "At this point, we ran into a dead end. No Robert Alexanders anywhere, not even in America, at least magically inclined."

Draco said, "You obviously found him, though."

"Yes, through an inspired bit of thinking by Proudfoot and a slightly tipsy revelation at a pub." Kingsley smiled and nodded to Proudfoot, who picked up the story.

Proudfoot cleared his throat and began. "I decided to comb through the personal records of the DOM again. I was looking for anything, anything at all, from a documented late arrival to a disciplinary incident. I began to notice the habit of a particular individual—a Charles Ingersol—who'd been with the DOM for about ten years; a seemingly patternless habit of late arrivals or overtime work. I noticed that they occurred with American and Swedish bank holidays. Remember we had said Robert was educated in Sweden and we assumed he had fled to America?"

Everyone nodded.

"I took a cue from the Muggle police and did a bit of detective work. I began to follow Robert slash Charles around. He tended to go to clubs that were sports themed; he enjoyed a lot of American sports. I followed him into these clubs and struck up an acquaintance with him. It took a few weeks of chit chatting about work, families, etc., but one particular night he was very into his cups and began to talk nonsense about a world where I apparently wouldn't believe there was magic. He mentioned an evil man who had been seeking to create a more pure society. He talked about a man he loved who spurned him because that man was in love with another man. He told me the man he loved had eventually died in a war, but he didn't reveal which war or even that he was a wizard.

"Another time when we were at a club, he was again a bit sozzled, and this time, began to rant about the need for revenge. He was going to do something to the man who apparently stole the only one he ever loved. He wasn't going to kill this person, but doing as good as. When I asked him how, he passed out. It took another couple of visits before I got him drunk on purpose so that I could led the conversation round to what I wanted. He told me about his job and how they were working on changing the frequency of signatures. He tried to make it as though he was working in the Muggle science field, but the little things he would say, things only a wizard would say, gave him away, at least to me. He'd quickly correct himself with a Muggle term and say he was being silly because he was drunk…mixing up his word and such like.

"I told him that the frequency thing fascinated me, and he expounded on his work. By the time he got half way through the explanation, I knew we had our man. He gave away information that I had recently learned from the DOM that only someone in the DOM would know. And in fact, some of their notes had gone missing several months prior."

Severus interrupted, "Did the DOM report this to you, Kinsgley?"  
 **  
**"No," he answered. "The DOM, as you know, has its own internal system of checks and balances. Only if the information or problem will affect the Wizarding community as a whole, will I be informed."

"This did affect the wizarding community as a whole, at least the eight of us," growled Severus. "Why didn't they report to you?"

"At the time, it didn't, and the information was in the experimental stages so they were certain that whoever took the information wouldn't know what to do with it without all of the processes used as one."

"Well, they were wrong weren't they?" snorted Severus.

"Gentleman," said Proudfoot, "if I may continue?" Kingsley and Severus nodded. "In the hope that I get him to play is his cards, I, erm, invited him to my place on the assumption of well…" Proudfoot let the implication sink in and then continued.

"We had had a few drinks, and I steered the conversation around to frequencies again. He told me more about what he'd do with the frequency and with a little urging, to whom. I gave him a Sober-up, and immediately bound him and brought him to the Auror office."

Kingsley took over the story again. "From there, it was a matter of some Veritaserum, and we had the whole story. Robert never got over his rejection from Reg and blamed you, Severus. As he watched you move up in the ranks of Death Eaters, he became even more jealous. He also felt you did not mourn Reg's death as much as you should have given how close you were as friends. He kept track of you—Proudfoot found reams of notes and articles about you and your career pre and post war—some of his diary entries were rather frightening, especially those from after you married Hermione."

Hermione gasped at this revelation and moved closer to Severus, who put his arm around her in comfort.

"He told us he found the curse in the Black library; he had been in your house more than you want to know, Harry. Some of the times, he hid in rooms and closets while you were there."  
 **  
**Draco gasped and Harry turned green, leaping from his chair to vomit into the kitchen sink. The entire group was shocked into chatter and outrage; the thought that this man observed the couples and possibly the group while they moved around the house, having fun and socialising was more than frightening.

When Harry had recovered and returned to the table, wiping his mouth, he asked, "How? How did he get in here, and we not notice him?"

Kingsley answered, "He was a brilliant man, actually. Once he had the notes from the DOM, he carried on the work on the frequencies. He had figured out how to attenuate his magic to become, well, invisible in a sense, almost as though he were in mid Apparition. He had also figured out a way to change the frequency of a signature down to the point of near depletion. He had found in his search of the Black library a book with a curse in it that could turn a person into a squib. He then figured out how to combine the ancient curse and the frequency of magical signatures to effectively turn off your magic."

"So," Hermione began, "he had, in his hands, the means to wipe out magic in anyone, at any time."

"Yes," answered Kingsley. "And you can imagine where his thoughts may have gone from there."

Severus said, "A new Dark Lord on the horizon. If he could exact his revenge on me and remove the magic of even purebloods," he nodded at Neville, Luna, Ron, and Lavender, "think of what he could have done on a grander scale; simply lace a batch of butterbeer or some other popular drink with a curse and frequency tied together in a curse on the bottle caps and voila…"

"It doesn't bare thinking," said Neville, shuddering.

"His diary detailed it all," Kingsley said.

"So how do we get our magic back?" asked Lavender.

Kingsley answered, "The DOM is working to reverse the magical signature frequencies. It should be a fairly easy process as Robert left detailed notes. They believe they should have the ability to attenuate your magic and then, remove the curse, since there is a counter curse."

An almost audible sound of relief reverberated throughout the room as the group realised they'd be cured soon.

"I can't wait!" said Ron. "I mean this has been a neat experience and all, but I've had magic for so long…"

Luna piped up, looking at Severus, Hermione, Harry and Draco. "But it may not be an easy decision for all of us to return to the magical world."

The couples Luna had looked were stunned by her intuitiveness, but understood. After another hour of discussion about what would happen once the counter curse was ready and their return to the magical world, Kingsley and Proudfoot left.

"I don't know about the rest of you," said Hermione, but this conversation has been exhausting. I'm ready to head back home and go to bed."

"I agree," said Harry. "We'll see you all in the morning for a celebratory breakfast!"

 **SSHG SSHG**

Ron and Lavender were finishing their evening ablutions and discussing their return to the magical world.

"Do you want to go back?" asked Lavender.

"Yes," said Ron unequivocally. "I learned a lot these past eight months, and my job was okay, but I miss magic…I miss my mum and dad, even though they did visit quite a bit. I want to go back to work as an Auror as well. I want Violet to grow up in a magical household since she'll be going to Hogwarts."

"Ron, we both know you don't have to have grown up in a magical household to go to Hogwarts, but I know what you mean, and I feel the same."

They slid into bed and cuddled close, continuing their conversation.

"Ronnie…can I keep my Muggle job? I liked my work at the Ministry and it was interesting, but I have such fun at the shop; they love all my ideas and dress designs. They want to send me to design school and give me a promotion!"

"I'm so proud of you Lav…of course you can. Mum would watch Violet, you know."

Lavender giggled, "I sort of counted on it."

"So we go back?"

"Yes," replied Lavender and then kissed Ron with the intention of a little celebratory loving.

At the Longbottom's, a shared bath was the setting for the same sort of conversation the Weasley's were having.

"I want to go back, Luna," said Neville firmly. "I want my magic…it's in me…I've missed it."

"What about your job? Do you want to go back to Hogwarts?"

"Believe it or not, I don't. I like teaching, but I'm away from you too much. I think…I think I want to open a wizarding floral shop. What do you think? There's nothing like it in Diagon Alley."

"I think that's a lovely idea. Oh, let's do it, Nev!" Luna enthused. "I can still help Daddy at the Quibbler, right?"

"Of course. We can get a little flat above the shop to help cut expenses…I've got it all planned out." He stopped suddenly. "Luna, do _you_ want to go back to the Wizarding world?"

Luna kissed Neville's chin. "I want to be wherever you are, Nev, magical or not."

Neville hugged Luna closer. "I thought of naming it 'Luna Moon'. I know Luna means moon, but it flows, don't you think?" Luna burst into tears. "Love, what is it? Don't you like it?"

"Oh, I do, I do, but well, it's these hormones, you know?"

"Is it almost that time of the month?"

"Silly boy," Luna sniffed. "It won't be that time of the month for another seven months."

Neville cracked his head on the side of the tub as he fainted.

Harry and Draco were washing the dishes after a late night snack, discussing what they would do once their magic was back.  
 **  
**"So we're agreed to get our magic back, but live mostly Muggle?" said Harry.

"Yes, I think so," said Draco. "That'll shock a lot of folks, don't you think?"

Harry snorted. "I imagine the Prophet will have a field day with it."

"To right. You know, bear, I'd actually thought about not getting my magic back, but it's part of me and my history, and I'd want to be visit my parents without them always coming here, you know what I mean?"

Harry pecked Draco on the cheek. "I do, love, I do." He pulled the plug from the sink and watched the water drain out. "Are we done here?"

Draco threw the tea towel he was using to wipe the dishes dry onto the counter. "Yes. Let's get to bed; I'm exhausted."  
 **  
**Severus finished snapping the closures on Toby's onsie, talking to the child as though he understood. "So now we'll take you to your mummy, and she'll whip out the feed bags and off to sleep you'll go."

"Feed bags, Severus? Really?"

Severus blushed and made an attempt to cover up for his crassness. "You know I think you feeding the boy is a beautiful thing."

Hermione patted his cheek. "Nice try, love." She took Toby out of Severus' arms. "Come along, feed bags are full and want emptying."

Severus followed her, laughing along the way. "So," he said, "do you think we should go back to the magical world?"

"Honestly?" asked Hermione. Severus nodded. "I don't want to go back. I mean, we can always go back, but this life now…this peace, I want this. I want it for Toby, too."

Severus sat on the couch, watching his wife and son. "I never thought I would say this, but I agree. I have enjoyed going to school again, learning something new. Several of my professors have said I could possibly teach, given my history, and there are several outlying branches of the school where I could find a position. I have enjoyed not watching behind my back and not feeling the scrutiny of those who still think I am a Death Eater. I've enjoyed getting to know your parents more and feeling like a family…a son, for the first time ever. I enjoy the hum drum of our life now."

"I know what you mean," said Hermione.

"If Toby displays magic, will we have his signature changed?"  
 **  
**Hermione adjusted Toby on her breast before answering. "No. We'll know what's happening and how to deal with it. I don't want the possibility of him becoming an Obscurial should we tamp his magic. We'll teach him what magic is and how to handle his. We can allow him to decide whether or not to go to Hogwarts or remain in the Muggle world when he is older and can understand what such a decision might mean."

"I agree." Severus was quiet a moment or two before speaking again. "We could even work for the Ministry, to be honest. I'm sure they'd work with both of us to help keep one foot in, so to speak."

"Yes, I'm sure they would. With my job offer at the library, I'm sure I'd be happy. Right now, it's only a few days a week, and my mum will watch Toby while you're in your classes."

"What about never seeing magical places again?" asked Severus.

"Our friends can come here or they'll just have to be with us when we go to their homes."

"This seems too easy," said Severus.

"But it feels right, doesn't it?"  
 **  
**Severus rose from the sofa to kneel down by the rocking chair Hermione was using and stroked Toby's head. He curled his finger around the boy's hair. "Do you think he'll have hair as curly as yours?"

"I don't think so; your contribution may mean his hair is just wavy, and you're changing the subject."

"I know. This does feel right, and it's disconcerting. I'm not afraid, but it'll be an adjustment."

"But one we can handle," Hermione said. "Shall we stay in this flat or buy a house?"

"We need a place for a growing boy. Once we sell Spinner's End, we'll buy a home, or we could build. Isn't there a lot for sale on the next road over from your folks?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes, there is."

Severus stood and offered his hand to Hermione. "Well then, Mrs. Snape, tomorrow we shall see the real estate agent and learn more about it."  
 **  
Epilogue**

The couples slipped back into their former and new lives with only a few bumps along the way, each couple better for the months they lived without their magic. Hermione and Severus never did opt to have their magic back. When Toby was old enough to understand, he made the decision to keep his magic. His little sister, Evaline, was also raised in the same manner Toby was and opted to have her magical frequency turned down when she was old enough to make that decision. The Snape family was well adjusted and very happy. The other couples continued to live in the magical world, respecting the Snapes for their decision, and did not exclude them from their lives. The Friday night card games continued for years.

* * *

A/N: It's pretty obvious Ron and Lavender kept the flower theme of the women in Lav's family going by choosing the name of Violet Molly for their daughter. Francine Alice Longbottom, a.k.a. Frankie, is in homage to Frank and Alice, her grandparents. Some may wonder at the Snapes for choosing Tobias as the name for their son given Severus' relationship with his father. However, Tobias means 'good' (from Greek translation of the Hebrew), and Severus was intelligent enough to realise his son came from something loving and good.


End file.
